Experts say those behind social media threats against schools are getting harder to track down

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police in Kentucky and Indiana are investigating multiple threats on social media against local schools. But finding those behind the threats is only getting more difficult.

At least six schools in the area have been threatened this week, with three districts forced to close school altogether. There have also been multiple arrests, the latest happening Thursday, when police in Jeffersonville arrested a 12-year-old after threats were made to two middle schools.

The kids making the threats being investigated by police are about to find out just how sophisticated such investigations can be.

"Because if they are doing this at this age, what is going to happen in a couple years when they are that age," asked Elaine Wright.

It only takes a few seconds to set up a brand new social media profile, and it only takes a few more seconds to weaponize it. But finding the person behind the name on the screen can take much longer.

"Because it is so easy to create these accounts, you know, post something and then maybe do away with it and maybe create another one. It can be challenging for sure to track," said Scott Shackelford, professor of Business Law and Ethics at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

According to Jeffersonville police, the 12-year-old arrested Thursday made numerous posts on social media threatening violence toward Parkview and River Valley middle schools. But police have not yet given details on the specifics of the threats.

Some think the parents of these students should be held accountable.

"They need to know what they are doing, when they are doing it, and the kids think it is a joke, they think it is funny and it is not," grandmother Sheila Landis said.

Investigations into these threats requires help from the social media companies whose platforms they're being posted on. That's because the companies have the information on where the profiles are created and, in some cases, who created them. But experts said getting them to cooperate in an investigation is getting increasingly more difficult.

"You know, a lot of these platforms, META, case in point, Instagram, Facebook, they have been firing, unfortunately, a lot of their safety personnel in the last year, so there are fewer and fewer people to help even as this problem gets worse and worse," Shackelford said.

The 12-year-old arrested in Jeffersonville, a seventh grade student at Parkview Middle School, is now facing a felony intimidation charge.

"Remember the famous motif ... you can't yell fire in a crowded theater, and the same goes by yelling fire on Facebook," said Shackelford.

Jeffersonville police said there are two other students who may face intimidation charges related to the social media threats, once the prosecutor reviews the probable cause.

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Experts say those behind social media threats against schools are getting harder to track down